Month: March 2015

27 August 2008

Sean preferred the Renaissance, he said, but he was more wowed by St. Peters.

Saint Peter’sceiling of Saint Peter’s

We walked continuously from 8:30 in the morning to 7:00 in the evening. We saw St. Michaels, St. Peters, Frauenkirche, and the Alte Pinakotekh museum.

High Alter of Saint Michael’sSaint Michael’s ceiling

Mary with the Child by Leonardo DaVinciDa Vinci citation

The Alte Pinakotekh had a very good audioguide in English. We took lots of pictures. I saw an actual painting by Leonardo Da Vinci! I was so excited.

Since I hadn’t done any shopping for the people back home, we walked, walked, and walked. We had originally taken the train to Marienplatz. The map made it look further than it was so we did not get back on the train. We went from Marianplatz to the museum, then back to the Platz to shop.

Anywhere I go, I try to put at least something in the hats of street performers.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I loved public transportation in Europe. I also love that the cities are set up for walking and bicycling. There were thousands of bikes everywhere we went. You could rent them.

After seeing the river, we made our way back to the train station and ate at the Pizza Hut. That Pizza Hut was much better than any U.S. Pizza Hut I have ever visited.

Isar River

Wurmeck Dragon on New Town Hall

There is a legend that the plague of the sixteenth century was brought to the people by a dragon. When someone killed the dragon, the plague ended.

26 August 2008

Plans changed. Sean decided to skip Berlin so we went to Munich instead. Sean got grumpy again at trying to find a room. Finally, we sat in a covered loading area so I could call close ones listed in the guidebook. The first one had a room. I slept. Sean took a walk wanting to find convenience stores, police, and other stuff. When he got back, we slept. We did nothing until 9:00pm.

He told me that we were not in a good part of town and that I was not to go out alone after dark. Imagine a boy telling his mother not to go out.

We went to eat, then walked his figure eight. There were many women out alone and many families out with children. There were some older children out alone. I figured it couldn’t be too unsafe with all the children out and about. But there were casinos and strip clubs all over the place. I know that nudity is not a big deal here but something seems wrong about having families with young children passing by posters advertising strip clubs. That bothers me more than the prospect of seeing nude sunbathers in the park. Maybe I’ll like Olde Town better – the Marienplatz, museums, churches, etc. I guess my mid-western United States Bible belt Christian side is showing.

We came back to the hotel and Sean plugged himself in to his iPod. He does that a lot. His idea of a vacation is to go plant himself in one spot, enjoy the sites, sounds, and attractions of that one spot for an extended period of time instead of moving from place to place every day. If I am going to be in a foreign country, I want to see everything I can cram in the time allotted.

He went out walking again and I sat down to catch up on my journal. I met an elderly couple from Vancouver, British Columbia, and heard a trumpet and a screaming child with lots of banging. Could not hear any of the sounds when I went out into the hall.

I think of showering. Maybe he will be back by the time I’m done… but he won’t be able to get in… hmmm.

*Note 5 March 2015 I didn’t take any pictures that day and I should have. Even though I may have been uncomfortable, the mundane of the cultures make the most interesting pictures. I especially should have photographed the cherubs in our hotel. I didn’t mention the cherubs. There were five pictures on the walls of cherubs with rolls of gobby fat, just a little creepy.